Reflective: The Art of Miranda Herrick

From detailed hand-drawn patterns to recycled works made with aluminum and nails, you’ll be amazed by the skill involved in Miranda Herrick’s art.

Miranda Herrick was born in Vicenza, Italy in 1977. Her father’s military career took her family many places before they settled in Clarksville, TN in the early 1990’s. Herrick graduated from Austin Peay State University in the fall of 1999 with a Bachelor of Fine Art, concentrating in drawing and ceramics. She currently lives and works in Nashville, TN.

Herrick’s drawings tend to be very structured geometric patterns. These drawings begin with penciled grid lines and grow out with repetitive, pen-an-ink line work which is done freehand. The process is meditative in nature.

Subdividing space on a sheet of paper with pen marks has evolved into recycling post consumer materials to fill in blocks of color on a wooden panel. The shift in materials allows [Herrick] to create larger designs and gives the shapes and colors a subtext. The materials were intended for purposes other than art making. A careful observer can discover what product these aluminum cans carried before they were re-purposed. A thoughtful environmentalist might be made uncomfortable anew with the evidence of accumulation in the repetition of the pieces.

One of the featured works of art in Herrick’s exhibit is a compilation piece from her Works and Days series.

“The drawings displayed here are selected from a large series, ‘Works and Days‘, which includes 365 pieces. The series was executed in 2007. A drawing was made on each day of the year.

Although a few of the designs create organically shaped images, most are more structured geometric patterns. These drawings began with penciled grid lines and grew out with repetitive, pen-and-ink line work done freehand. The process is meditative in nature.

“Jan. 11th, 2007″ from the series “Works and Days”

The purpose of making a drawing on every day of the year was two-fold. Firstly, it demanded structure and discipline for the practice of meditation in action. Secondly, it was a way to interact with the audience’s personal history.

Seeing the dates on the finished pieces calls to mind any personal significance of that day for the viewer. I was actively doing something creative on each day and effectively commemorating the birthday of almost anyone. ”